When everything is going right in the classroom, teachers have a clear sense of purpose, direction, and what students need. Other times, being a teacher can feel like walking in the dark. No matter how hard we work, it remains unclear whether our path will line up with our intended destination or not.
My colleagues and I experienced this feeling a few years ago. Our elementary school in rural Horseshoe Bend, Idaho, was rated two out of five stars on the state's school rating system, and we were on our fifth superintendent in just three years. Our teachers and students were working hard, and we were dedicated to improving our school. Our morale was relatively high, but we lacked a light to guide our way. We were fortunate enough to find two.
The first illuminating beam came when we decided to make data a key component of our district turnaround strategy. When our current superintendent stepped into the position two years ago, I was also transitioning into a leadership role as lead elementary teacher. We both felt strongly that we needed consistent, relevant data, across all grade levels, to assess our school's needs—from big-picture issues like curriculum and instruction to specific instances of student gaps in achievement. After researching different assessment systems, we decided to implement the Measures of Academic Performance (MAP) growth assessment from Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) to support our improvement efforts.
Our second ray of light was a capacity-building coach assigned to us by the Idaho State Department of Education as a result of our school's poor rating. Collaboration and commitment, our coach insisted, were key to our success. She stressed the urgency and importance of teachers working together to use student data to improve instruction across grade levels. These two guiding lights, and our superintendent's unwavering support, put us on the path toward student growth and success.
Changing Schedules
One of our first major alterations was to change our district's calendar from semesters to trimesters in order to align instructional terms with our tri-annual assessment windows for MAP and other tests. Additionally, we shifted the timing and purpose of parent–teacher conferences to fit this new schedule, so that we could meet with parents and students in September to create end-of-year goals, and again in February to track student progress on those goals—all with students' assessment data in mind.
We also changed our daily schedule to allow for dedicated intervention time with all students, regardless of their achievement level. Each grade receives 30 to 40 minutes of intervention time for reading and math, every day. Students are divided into small, skill-specific groups and receive support from para-educators, volunteers, and teachers. Guided by individualized instructional plans, these interventions are focused on growth for every student, whether it is in the form of closing identified learning gaps or emphasizing enrichment beyond grade level.
Using Data
As lead elementary teacher, I observed how the reliable student data from our new assessment system empowered our teachers throughout the district. Under the guidance of our capacity builder, I began meeting with individual teachers every three weeks to review student data, ensure students were on track to meet benchmarks, and offer one-on-one support. We also instituted an instructional coaching program that provides teachers with observation-based notes and feedback, and supports their ongoing professional development. Data is a core element in both of these initiatives—it guides discussions with teachers and drives improvement at every level.
Greater collaboration on data analysis has been another key area of focus. Following each of the three testing windows, our elementary teachers, paraeducators, and administrators spend a full day analyzing MAP and other assessment data. In this "all-hands-on-deck" manner, we review student- and grade-level data to determine what needs to be accomplished and identify ways we can do that together. Data is posted on meeting room walls so that teachers can easily see and ask questions related to data patterns and share strategies for success. The data remains on the wall as a reminder of our focus areas and goals until it is replaced by the next round of assessment information.
Moving Teachers in the Same Direction
Our first round of data analysis pointed to an issue with our policy on curriculum. Prior to implementing our turnaround strategy, our teachers were not required to follow our adopted curriculum, and many were seeking lesson plans and resources on their own. This resulted in teachers working hard but often moving in different directions, leading to inconsistent instruction and gaps in learning for students between grade levels.
With the help of our capacity builder and superintendent, we instituted a nonnegotiable policy to teach the English language arts and math curricula to fidelity at every grade level. We also asked teachers to create a pacing guide each spring for the following school year to ensure completion of the curricula in their entirety prior to year-end. This step is especially crucial because our school operates on a four-day school week, which leaves little time to spare. Teaching to fidelity allowed our teachers to spend less time building their lessons and to spend their energy maximizing every instructional moment. Importantly, it also helped make our faculty believers in our turnaround plan. By following our research-based, Common Core-aligned curriculum and using data to inform instruction and intervention, we saw real change happen—and we wanted to sustain it.
Through these data-driven, collaborative approaches to improvement in our school, we saw signs of success right away. In 2015–16 (our first full year implementing these changes), our classes showed very high conditional growth percentiles, with some classes averaging above the 90th percentile on the nationally normed MAP growth assessments. Today, just two years after we launched our turnaround strategy, Horseshoe Bend is one of two elementary schools in Idaho nominated for the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program.
It has not been an easy road, but we are all finally moving in the same direction. With a clear purpose, data to drive our decisions, and steady leadership to light the way, we will continue to build capacity and empower our teachers to maximize student growth and achievement.